Use Of Functional Assessment Research Articles

Applying Functional Assessment in General Education Classrooms

Functional assessment involves generating hypotheses about the purpose a behavior serves and the environmental variables maintaining it in order to develop effective and efficient interventions. Functional assessment has been used extensively with students with severe disabilities in special education settings. However, few applications of functional assessment have been reported with students with mild disabilities in general education classrooms. The purpose of this article is to address the use of functional assessment in general education classrooms with students with mild disabilities. We present the theoretical foundations of functional assessment, describe the procedures involved in conducting a functional assessment, discuss some of the obstacles to applying functional assessment in general education classrooms, and make recommendations for the future use of functional assessment in general education classrooms with students with mild disabilities.

Reducing Aggression in Children with Autism toward Infant or Toddler Siblings

Children with autism often lack appropriate means to communicate and may rely on aggression and other disruptive behaviors to express their needs. This may be a particularly serious problem when aggression occurs toward an infant or toddler, who could be severely injured by an older sibling. This study examined the use of functional assessment and individualized parent-implemented intervention plans in the home setting, including functional communication training with relevant ecological manipulations. Data were collected in the context of a multiple baseline design across three families. The results showed that after the intervention there were: (1) large reductions in the children's aggression toward their infant or toddler sibling, (2) increases in parent and child happiness level, and (3) increases in strangers' level of comfort with respect to interacting with the family. The results are discussed in terms of improving the overall quality of life for families of children with autism.

Increasing Self-Discipline with the ABC Event Frame

Students who do not respond to well-managed schoolwide discipline programs are not only less likely to learn than those who are attentive and engaged in academic tasks, but also deprive those around them of opportunities to learn. This article describes the evolution of one approach to addressing the academic and social needs of chronically disruptive students, and the use of functional assessment as a self- monitoring device and key to self-discipline.

Addressing Problem Behaviors in Schools: Use of Functional Assessments and Behavior Intervention Plans

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsRobert A. GableRobert A. Gable is a professor, Department of Child Study and Special Education, Old Dominion University. Mary Magee Quinn is a research analyst at the Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice at the American Institutes for Research in Washington, DC. Robert B. Rutherford Jr. is a professor at Arizona State University, and Kenneth Howell is a professor at Western Washington University.

The Use of Functional Assessment and Self-Management with a First Grader

ABSTRACT The effects of a self-management intervention on the disruptive behavior of a first-grade student were evaluated. First, hypotheses as to what environmental variables set the occasion for disruptive behavior were generated. Next, a structural analysis (Carr & Durand, 1985) was conducted across three curricular areas (story time, art, and seat work) to test each hypothesis directly. The structural analysis indicates that low adult attention sets the occasion for disruptive behavior. Based on this finding, a self-management intervention was implemented in which the child was provided with adult attention contingent on appropriate behavior on a VI schedule. The package was implemented across the three curricular areas to form a multiple-baseline design. As the study progressed, the VI schedule increased so as to fade the schedule of reinforcement. The results show that the self-management intervention was effective in reducing disruptive behavior in all three curricular areas. These findings are significant because they demonstrate the applicability of functional assessment procedures with nondisabled children and that the results of this type of assessment can be blended into commonly-used classroom interventions.

A Critical Analysis of Functional Assessment: Issues for Researchers and Practitioners

This article addresses the use of an analytical approach to making treatment decisions known as functional assessment. The usefulness of functional assessment with students with emotional/behavioral disorders is predicated on the assumption that the effectiveness of treatment increases if it matches the function of the target behavior(s). Discussion covers both indirect and direct measures of the relationship between the target behavior and variables that may be maintaining the behavior. Strategies for selecting and verifying hypothesis-driven treatment decisions are presented. In that the accumulated research has failed to dislodge some stumbling blocks to the use of functional assessment, several methodological solutions are offered for researchers and practitioners.

Interventions with Challenging Behavior of Persons with Developmental Disabilities: A Review of Current Research Practices

The published intervention research on the remediation of challenging behavior of persons with developmental disabilities was reviewed. A total of 179 studies over a recent 5-year period (1988 through 1992) were reviewed for adherence to certain standards of practice, including the use of functional assessment, function-treatment matching, level of intervention intrusiveness, monitoring of collateral behaviors, follow-up, and generalization. Results are presented with regard to each standard of practice and the relations among practices. The results largely support meaningful improvements in the state of the intervention literature since the time of several previous reviews. Areas of progress are noted and continuing deficits are discussed.

Looking Ahead to the Use of Functional Assessment in Ambulatory Physiatric and Primary Care: The Functional Assessment Screening Questionnaire

Physiatric practice would be facilitated by use of simple scales that measure patients’ symptoms, functioning, and concerns that are relevant to management of patient care. In response to the question "How are you doing?", the answers to five items of the Functional Assessment Screening Questionnaire provide good clinical precision and quantitative validity when processed through the BIGSTEPS computer program. The results can be shown to fit one of three patterns for neuromusculoskeletal conditions, low back pain, or neck and arm dysfunction. Still to be determined is concurrent validity with other scales with respect to clinical improvement, worsening, or stability over time and with and without treatment interventions.

Use of Functional Assessment in Children with Developmental Disabilities

Comprehensive functional assessment of mobility, self-care, and communicative and cognitive skills is essential for health and rehabilitation professionals involved with children with developmental disabilities. Our purpose is to describe the conceptual framework, overall purpose, interdisciplinary effort, and pilot use of the Functional Independence Measure for Children (WeeFIM). In our work to date we have discovered how much we have to learn from children, families, and educators about the complexity and challenges of becoming functionally independent.

The relationship between functional assessment and treatment selection for aggressive behaviors

Functional assessment seeks to elucidate the variables controlling a maladaptive behavior. Based on such an assessment, effective treatments can be designed that focus on replacing that maladaptive behavior with a functionally equivalent adaptive prosocial behavior. This technique has been promoted as an effective means of improving treatments by increasing the focus on skill development and reducing the use of aversive and restrictive procedures. The literature for the behavioral treatment of aggression for persons with mental retardation or developmental delays was examined from 1979 through 1990. During that period the use of functional assessment and skill training increased; however, the increased use of functional assessment did not result in the reduced use of intrusive procedures. Potential reasons for these results are discussed, and a call for an increased emphasis on functional assessment methodology is made.

Rehabilitation of the Geriatric Patient: Stroke Rehabilitation, the Rehabilitation Team, and the Usefulness of Functional Assessment

Salient features of rehabilitation in the elderly are illustrated through the case history of a stroke patient. The efforts of the multidisciplinary rehabilitation team and the consideration of alternative settings and levels of care are critical factors in the restoration and preservation of function in the elderly. Systematic functional assessment, using instruments such as the Barthel index, is recommended to document patient outcomes.

The use of functional assessment in understanding home care needs.

This study explored the use of functional assessment as a means for understanding individuals' needs for long-term care in the home setting. A primary focus of the study was to test the usefulness of a modified Barthel Index as the functional assessment instrument that measured personal care need. Data were derived from 89 chronically ill and/or disabled people who were receiving home health care from the Visiting Nurse Association of metropolitan Providence, Rhode Island (VNA). In addition to personal care need, the study explored psychological, socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of these individuals, as well as the specific services delivered by the VNA. Results indicate that the modified Barthel Index may be used to obtain detailed information regarding ability to perform activities of daily living in the home. The data also suggest that psychological functioning must be carefully assessed when personal care need is found to exist, particularly in elderly persons. The findings of the study indicate that individual need for long-term care might be measured by functional assessment in order to most effectively direct services into the home.